Air conditioning device



.lune 22, 1937. J. M. FRANK ET AL AIR CONDITIONING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed sept. so, 195s KNT IY Q@ l @mi En, LQ

June 22, 1937. J. M. FRANK ET Al.v

AIR CONDITIONING DEVICE Filed Sept. 30, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented .Pune 22, i937 CONDITIONING DEvron John M. Frank, Winnetka, and Walter IBL eta,

Bavinia, Ill., assignors to Ilg Electric Ventilating Company, Chicago, Ill., a, corporation or Louisiana Application September 3o, 1933, Serial No. 691,614

(Cl. (i2-129) d Claims.

This invention pertains to the general art of air conditioning devices, and has reference more particularlyI to devices forL cooling and de-humidifying the air in the rooms of dwellings, oiice buildings, etc., in hot weather to increase the comfort and improveithe etlioiency of the occupants of such rooms. Of late years the use of built-in air conditioning systems in dwellings, ofce buildings, factories, and the like has be.- come prevalent, and so great has become the demonstrated value of such systems that the de- 'mand therefor is growing rapidly.-

'Built-in air conditioning equipments are expensive, and, of course, when installed, are perma- 15 nent as 'to location, and cannot be shifted from one room to another.l Hence, in the case of oce buildings for instance, to be practical, the equipment must be so extensive as to be' able to serve all the rooms, and Where a considerable number of rooms may be vacant, the equipment' pertaining to such rooms represents an idle investment. Furthermore, with the frequent changing of tenants in an oiilce building, the partition walls of the .oices are constantly being changed, and, to the extent that the air conditioning equipment may be located in such partition walls, the rearrangement of the latter to suit the Wishes or needs of tenants is rendered diiiicult and expensive. Furthermore, in the case ofA large rooms the 30 cost of cooling the entire body of air in the room 'may be considerable, whereas the same individual comfort effect may be obtained ata considerably less cost by apparatus designed to direct a current of cool air toward or on one or more individuals in 35 the room. And, in the latter case, where omce desks may be shifted about from one place to another, a portable air cooling device, the position and directive discharge of which may be changed, is a manifest advantage.

The above and other considerations have led to the development oi the present invention, the chief purpose or design of which has been the production. of a simple, compact and improved portable air conditioning device of the compresf 45 sor-condenser-expansion circuit type, that is entirely self-contained and preferably entirely automatic and may readily be moved from room to room or from one position to 'another in the same room, so as to discharge a stream of air 50 directly toward an occupant of the room. An-

other object has been the production of such a.

device in the form or disguise of a neat and attractive article of furniture of the cabinet type, so as to avoid a clash with the other artistic 55 equipment of the room or offense to the aesthetic means for cooling, cleaning and de-humidifying I the air handled by the device and for conveniently disposing of the moisture of condensation, for which latter purposes the device may be portable or xed.

Still other objects and attendant advantages of the inventionl y,will be apparent to persons vfamiliar with this class of devices from the followingdetailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which we have illustrated one practical and approved embodment of the invention, and wherein:-

Fig. l is a front elevation with the front panel removed to disclose internal parts.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, viewed from the right of Fig. l, with the side wall removed.

Fig. 3 is a top plan, with thetop wall or cover removed.

Fig. 4i is a horizontal sectiontaken on the line d-d of Fig. i, looking downwardly.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of a exible coupling intermediate the two compressor shafts.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing certain leads and controls.

The entire equipment is contained within an upright cabinet comprising a removable rear wall or panel l0, side `walls l, an upper front wall l2, a bottom wall i3, a removable front panel I4 and a removable lid or cover i3. A horizontal partition i5 divides the interior of the cabinet into a relatively small upper compartment lli containing a fan and cooling coils, and a relatively large lower compartment ll containing most of the operating equipment.

In the lower portion of the lower compartment l'l is mounted a skeleton platform I8, best shown in Fig. 4, supported on the bottom wall I3 by rubber mountings I9 on its sides and ends. Supported on the four corners of the platform I8 are angle bar uprights 2t which in turn support on their upper ends a top platform 2 I. Mounted on the platform i8 is an electric-motor 22, and mounted on the upper platform 2l are twin gas compressors 23. The armature shaft of the motor 22 carries a pulley 24 connected by twin belts 25 to iiy-wheel pulleys 26 respectively, secured on independent crank shafts 21 of the' two compressors 23. Owing to practical diicultles of driving both compressors from a single shaft,two

ves

, causes, the operation ofthe two compressors is maintained substantially constant and uniform and in correct phase relation, and the described construction also eliminates the necessity of exact axial alignment of the bearings of the compressor shafts.

Also mounted on the platform I8 at one end thereof is a condenser housing 30 containing a condenser coil 3|, a heat exchange coil 32, and a refrigerant tank 33.

Referring to Fig. 2, the front wall |2 of the upper compartment |3 is formedwith a central opening 34, in front of which'is rotatablyvmount- .ed-a de ilector preferably equipped with oblique blades or louvers 35 and an operating knob 33.

' Directly in rear of the opening 34 is an air cooling and moisture reducing coil 31, leaning backwards, as'shown in Fig. 2, to prevent'condensate on the coil from being /blown out onto the deector blades '35, and directly in rear of the coil 31 is a propeller fan 33 driven by an electric motor 33.

The upper portion of the rear wall |3 of the cabinet which forms the rear wall. of the compartment I6 is also formed with an opening 40, and directly in front of this opening is another air cooling and moisture reducing coil 42. From this arrangement it will be seen that the fan 33 draws air across the rear coil 42, and over the motorw33, and forces the air across the front coil 31 and through the front opening 34, the direction of outow being determined by the setting of the deilector 35. I

Explaining the operating connections of the parts thus far described, the outlets of the two compressors 23 are connected by a pipe 43, from which a pipe 44 leads into the upper end of the condensercoil 3|, in which the compressed 13efrigerating .agent is reduced to liquid form, and is delivered through a pipe 45 to the refrigerant tank 33. From the latter, the liquid refrigerant `flows upwardly under pressure through a pipe 46 to and through an expansion-valve 41, and from the'latter by a pipe- 43 into the upper end of the front coil 31, from the lower end of which latter it ows through a pipe 43 into the upper end of the rear coil 42. From the lower end of the coil 42 the gas returns by a pipe 53 to a pipe 5| serving the intakes of the two compressors 23. The condenser coil 3| is cooled by a continu ously flowing body of water under pressure in housing`33. Io this end, a water supply hose 52 from a water faucet or other source, equipped with a hand valve 53, leads by an extension 52 nearly to the bottom of the housing 33'; outflow of the water at practically the -level of the top of the coil 3| being effected by a pipe 54 leading into the top of the heat exchange coil 32. 'I'he 'sorb and carry oil.' in the waste water the greater portionof the heat generated by the motor 22 and the compressors 23 in the bottom porticm ,m of .the lower compartment |1;V this being aided main purpose of this latter coil is simply to abg I lpreferably connected by a pressure equalizing pipe 56, on which is mounted an ordinary pressure gauge 51 `to show the pressures existing at any time within the compressors 23.

The cooling coils 31 and 42 in the upper compartment, across which the air is moved operate at a temperature below the dew-point of the air, and of course condense the major vpart of the moisture in the air, which latter, in its passage across the coils deposits dust on the coils; and to ca'tch and dispose of the dust and drippings, we provide beneath saidvcoils a shallow pan 53 formed with a substantially central well or sump 53 into which the condensate drains to the level of the upper end of a drain pipe 33. vThis pipe 63 leads downwardly to an aspirator or ejector hose indicated at 3|, which, in turn connects into drain-hose 55. We have found in practice that the actionof this ejector may create a slight hissing or sucking sound in the well 53; and

'to remedy this, we place in the well a sponge 62 overlying the upper endv of the pipe 30. 'I'his sponge is, of course, continuously saturated with water, and has the effect of etfectually killing theA hissing or sucking noise above referred to.

In order to render the equipment .thoroughly or overheating, we preferably employ certain auxiliary automatic controls. 'I'he opening and closing movements of the expansion valve 41 (in itself a well known and generally used device in systems of this character) are preferably automatically controlled by temperature-pressure variations in a fixed body of gas contained within a pipe 63 which at one'end communicates with the valve casing, and at its other end with a bulb. or

coil 34 that encircles the return'pipe 53 leading fromthecoil 42 backto the compressor. .The

temperature in the pipe 53 modiiies'the temperature and consequently'the pressure ofthe ga'sA matic view, Fig. 6. When the motor is running normally, the switch isY closed. An overload on the motor increases the temperature of the ther- 'mal element, which in turn opens the switch.

In case the supply of cooling water to the condenser housing 30 should fall, or the pressure fall I" abnormally low so as to slow down the ilo`w and thus create an inadequate cooling effect on the condenser, another switch 31 in the motor circuit is automatically opened. This switch is normally maintained closed by a bellows diaphragm 33 (Fis. 6) contained with a box 33 (Fig. 2) and acting against a switch lever 13 (Fig. 6) normally drawn to switch openin'g position by a spring 1|. So long as the water pressure is suicient, the switch 31- remains closed. When the pressure fails or falls to a non-workable degree, the bellows collapsesvand the spring 1| opens the'switch 31,

thus arresting the motor until the water pressure is restored. The. bellows 33 is supplied with water from the hose 52 by a branch line ,12.

l,The hand valve 53 in pipe\52 is used to start and stop theentire system, since, when it is opened. it closes the motor circuit through switch luf l0, and when it is closed, switch 10 automatically opens.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the present invention provides a completely self -contained Iair cooling, cleaning and de-humidifying unit wholly contained within a portable cabinet which can be placed at and in any convenient position within a room to be air conditioned, with the motor merely plugged into a socket in the wall, floor or ceiling of the room. The water supply and drain members 52 and 55 may consist of 'suitable lengths of rubber hose to permit the shifting about of the cabinet; and by manipulation of the rotatable shutter 35, the cooled, cleaned, and partly dried stream of air. may be directed upwardly, downwardly, or to either side. The mounting of the machine elements upon a rubber soled platform effectually absorbs all vibration and eliminates noise. When the operating mechanism in the lower compartment l1 requires oiling, adjustment or replacement of parts, it can readily be gotten at by simply removing the front panel I4. The walls of both upper and lower compartments are preferably equipped with heat and sound insulating lining as indicated in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive.

The mounting of the coil 31 in the inclined position shown is of practical importance and distinctly advantageous as compared with the known vertical mounting of similar coils. Of course, the tendency of the fan blast is to blow condensed drops of moisture forwardly lonto the Alouvre blades, whence they drip down into the underlying woodwork, tending to rot the same.

.We have found by practical experiment that this defect may be entirely cured by leaning the coil backwardly so that the condensate drips directly from the coil itself into the underlying pan. The specic details of structure and organiza- 40 tion shown in the drawings and hereinabove described may be variously changed and modied within the purview and scope of the appended claims.`

We claim: 1. In an air conditioning device, the combination with a cabinet formed with air inow and outow openings in two walls thereof respectively, oi' a backwardly inclined cooling coil opposite said outow opening, a vertical cooling coil opposite said inow opening, means for circulating a cooling medium through said coils, and a ian and motor therefor located between said coils. l

2. In a refrigerant apparatus of the compressor-condenser-expander circuit type, the

combination with a chamber, of a motor, a com' pressor driven by said motor, a condenser coil taking gas from said compressor, a refrigerant tank receiving liquid refrigerant from said condenser coil, and a housing for said condenser coil all located in said chamber, and a heat exchange coil receiving overow water from said housing, and a fan driven by said motor directing a blast of air across said heat exchange coil.'

4. In a portable air conditioning device, the combination of a cabinet having opposed'inow and outow openings in its rearand front walls respectively, a backwardly inclined iront cooling,coil behind said outow opening, a vertical rear cooling coil .opposite said inow Iopening, a fan and fan motor mounted within said cabinet between said coils, an adjustable air-deecting shutter in front of said outow `opening, and

refrigerating medium vthrough said coils.

JOHN M. FRANK. WALTER H. RIETZ. 

